The present invention relates to multi-purpose power tools and more particularly to multi-purpose power tools well suited for use by those persons, such as sportsmen, who process game such as fish, fowl, or animals by cutting, descaling, and/or defeathering.
Wild game such as fish, fowl and animals are commonly dressed in the field by sportsmen using tools particularly designed for portability as well as for the particular type of game to be dressed. The tools conventionally used for dressing game are most commonly in the nature of a knife which may have both a scaling edge for removing fish scales, for example, and a cutting blade for dressing fish and perhaps other types of wild animals. Other types of easily carried hand-tools are known and widely used in the field by sportsmen. While the traditional hand tools are reasonably well suited for their intended function, their use can be time and energy consuming and require a minimum level of skill.
The amount of game that a sportsman can dress with hand-held tools has usually been limited, since many hunting and fishing locations are accessible only by foot and the game that can be dressed is limited to that which can be carried. With the increased use of off-road four-wheel drive vehicles and other types of all-terrain vehicles, sportsman now have the ability to drive directly to hunting and fishing locations that were previously accessible only by foot. The availability of a vehicle at a campsite increases the convenience by which game can be dressed, since a portion of the vehicle, such as the tailgate, can serve as a workplace. In addition, larger quantities of game can be transported, and the dressing tools can be stored in the vehicle.
Various power-driven tools are known for performing the cutting, descaling, and defeathering functions described above. These power tools, however, are typically specialized for a single function only and have traditionally been stationary appliances utilized in commercial business operations. These single-function specialized tools are not suited for vehicle mounting for use in the field.
As can be appreciated from the above, a need exists for a power tool that performs the traditional cutting, descaling, and defeathering functions and is convenient enough to be used by a vehicle-equipped sportsman for dressing game in the field.